The Mexican American War Essay

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, once famously said, “War is never a lasting solution for any problem”. Every single country has had some sort of conflict with another country, and often the solution is war. However, many do not realize that most wars (including the Mexican-American War) permanently damage the diplomatic relations of countries. Because of the damage of the Mexican-American War, it is unlikely that the bond between America and Mexico will ever be the same. The events leading up to the war began when Mexico won its independence from Spain, and in an effort to increase the population of the country, Mexican leaders welcomed American settlers to colonize the Mexican territory of Texas. However, conflict arose

The Mexican War was viewed as one of the most controversial wars in United States history. Originating from the annexation of Texas, or the lack thereof in Mexico’s eyes, the final spark to cause the war was an incident between soldiers of both countries in disputed land. Both Mexico and the US claimed to have been provoked by the other, and that they were only protecting their country. Many US citizens argued the war, as it appeared President Polk was using it for reasons other than self defense. By going to war with Mexico, the US faced the possibility of gaining much more of Mexico’s land and extending slavery in the country. The United States' decision to go to war with Mexico was based on a desire to extend slavery, to gain land they had

The Mexican-American War was incorrectly named; it was not simply Americans vs Mexicans, but a war between opinions. America’s war with Mexico: a war for land, for the sake of Manifest Destiny, or perhaps, a war to be started and ended in victory by… a thief. This war was supported and criticized by Americans and Mexicans alike. Manifest Destiny was a belief that it was God’s Plan to for America to expand to the Pacific Ocean, and a very controversial belief, at that. Before this war of opinions, the US already created a tense relationship with its neighbor by providing aid to the Texas Rebellion, and later annexing Texas. The United States was not Justified in going to war with Mexico because Texas was signed over, with no extra land, America was obviously itching to go to war, and settlers agreed to become Mexican citizens in the first place

“The United States had emerged as a modern capitalist nation, and the spirit of nationalism in the country was strong and growing” (Henderson 71). As tensions grew between the Unites States and Mexico, there was a thirst for war. The Unites States declared war with Mexico, because they owned land that Americans desired, resulting in America’s fulfillment of achieving their philosophy of “Manifest Destiny”. The blood boil of both countries caused a lot of bloodshed. The dispute lasted for a long two year battle which was for huge amounts of land. The Americans were victorious and claimed new territories from the conflict.

The Mexican-American War was driven by the idea of "Manifest Destiny" (Which is the belief that America had a God-given right to expand the country's borders from sea to sea) This belief would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U.S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land from Mexico.

Manifest Destiny is a term coined by John L. Sullivan in 1845 when talking about the annexation of Texas. He believed, along with other expansionists, that it’s inevitable that the US population would spread across North America because the land is given by Providence to the United States and that it’s natural that the land should be part of the country [Doc 1]. The idea of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny had positive and negative effects on the politics, society and the economics of the United States and

In order to understand manifest destiny we must first find its’ origin. John O’Sullivan first initiated manifest destiny into America in 1845. This New York editor wrote the phrase that captured this mood when he attempted to explain American’s thirst for westward expansion he wrote: the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly

The Mexican American war was a war between America and Mexico forces that took place in 1846 and ending in 1847. The mexican american war took place in Mexico,the war was that America thought that they were justified in going into war with mexico. The Mexican American war started when arrived that Mexican soldiers had fired upon American troops the mexican border of the Rio Grande, this War is so significant because of America winning the war and gaining even more land to America. America was not justified into going to war with mexico.

Throughout American History, started from Jamestown Americans started to settle upon Native American land by wiping them out or forcing them to move west. By 1846 throughout 1848, Americans approach Mexican territory’s land which they were eager to conquer and Manifest Density that was unstoppable and a goal for the United States. The conflict was the Mexicans weren 't going to give up their land because of a selfish belief and were provoked to go to war against a stronger nation. A war broke out known as the Mexican-American War.

Manifest Destiny means clear or obvious future or fate, therefore; the United States believed that it was their Manifest Destiny to expand Westward and to gain more land, this is how they came to war with Mexico. The expansion westward/ Manifest Destiny would change their standings economically, socially, and geographically. It changed them economically by making them money by working different jobs, mainly in factories, it changed them socially by having different views than Mexico; which made them develop new laws, and government it changed them geographically because of more and more land was being farmed, factories being built.

     Along with the desire of new land, there were other contributing factors that initiated the war with Mexico. There were also political and economical factors that were as equally important in the start of the war. With most of the Mexican land below the 34o30` line, the Democrats and the southern states were pushing for the war. With the increased amount of representatives for the southern states, there would finally be a tiebreaker in the free-slave argument. Without saying, the Whigs of the northern states were opposed to the

The term "manifest destiny" was first applied by John O'Sullivan in the New York Democratic Review in eighteen forty-five. John O'Sullivan wrote in favor of the U.S. appending Texas, a region that the U.S. identified as individualistic of any other nation. (Mexico declared that the area was Mexican territory.) For more than twenty years, Anglo-Americans had immigrated into the region, bringing rising numbers of imprisoned men and women with them. That tied the area to economics and politics of the U.S. viewpoint for and opposed annexation reached excitement pitch in eighteen forty-five and became a significant focus of the presidential election operations of Henry Clay and James Polk. John O'Sullivan antagonists to annexation, he argued, were trying to stop "the fulfillment of the manifest destiny to envelop the continent designated by Providence for the available development of our yearly multiplying millions.”2

The Mexican-American war determined the destiny of the United States of America, it determined whether or not it would become a world power and it established the size of the United States of America. Perhaps the war was inevitable due to the idea of Manifest Destiny - Americans thought they had the divine right to extend their territory. The Mexican-American War started mainly because of the annexation of the Republic of Texas (established in 1836 after breaking away from Mexico). The United States and Mexico still had conflicts on what the borders of Texas was, the United States claimed that the Texas border with Mexico was the Rio Grande, but the Mexicans said that it was the Nueces River, so the land in between were disputed and

Manifest Destiny is a term that was first coined in 1845 by a journalist named John L. O’Sullivan, and was described as America’s destiny to expand, and that it was God’s will that America was to expand. According to Genovese, “The notion of westward expansion and domination of the white races struck a responsive chord in many Americans” (Genovese, 2017). The idea of expanding America’s territory was so popular that is was even later used in Congress to justify the claiming of Oregon’s territory. While the idea of expanding America seemed great to the Americans, it was not so great for those who were living on the land that the Americans would later claim. According to Hastedt, “The failure to assimilate and prosper was the fault of those receiving America’s goodness” (Hastedt, 2016). The Americans felt that they were superior to those whose lands they were trying to take, such as the Native Americans and Mexicans, and that they should be the ones to adopt American culture, even if they were there before the Americans claimed the land. The Americans even thought that those whose lands they were taking would be happy to convert to their way of living, as is stated by Hastedt, “The inherent superiority of American Values was sure to be recognized by those with whom they came in contact and would gladly be adopted” (Hastedt, 2016). This mindset would ultimately lead to the expansion of America, turning it into what we know today, but it would also ultimately result in conflict with those that the American’s were attempting to take the land from for the sake of expansion.

The O’Sullivan article on Manifest Destiny sparked an initial interest amongst the American people. The idea that it was the United States’ destiny to expand across the continent became an ardent hope. America had a strong Christian belief that God had intended this for the country. The need for more land became vital as an increasing amount of immigrants flocked to the country each year. As the US gained more land, they steadily began to approach the western part of the continent. At the time, the United States was half of what it is now. The other half was owned by a country that would soon be forced into a two year war.